Iowa Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Constitutional Protection For Abortion – Opinion

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that there was no legal protection in Iowa for abortion.

A 2018 decision by a district judge regarding a law requiring a 24-hour wait period before a woman can have an abortion, was reversed.

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has changed the makeup of Iowa’s Supreme Court. She has appointed four of seven judges to the court, which has seen a dramatic change in the organization of the Supreme Court.

WHO13 News reports  Justice Edward Mansfield, who wrote the opinion, rejects the notion that politics played a part in the decision, suggesting it was a correcting a political ruling rather than making one.

The opinion released Friday and written by Justice Edward Mansfield said the court isn’t obligated to abide by precedent, especially in cases evaluating constitutional rights or in cases decided recently.

The reversal reflects a dramatic change in the court’s makeup. Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed four justices to the court since 2017. Six of the seven members are Republican governors.

Mansfield, however, rejected arguments by law scholars and professors that shifting opinions in such crucial matters over a brief period of time fed into the notion that courts were politicized.

“We do not agree that every state supreme court decision is entitled to some minimum try-out period before it can be challenged,” he said.